Christian Creations PSP Tutorials  

Red, White, and Blue Rope tube.

This tutorial was written in PSP 8 but there are notes for PSP 7.

In this tutorial we will be creating a Red, White, and Blue rope.  It is not hard just time consuming.

Create a New canvas. (Click File|| New [Ctrl+N])

Width = 100 pixels
Height = 100 pixels
Resolution = 72.00 pixels
Background = Raster
Color Depth = 16 Million Colors (24 Bit)
Color = Transparent Checked

Select the Paint Brush tool Default Size = 10 and Hardness = 100. Foreground color = White. Click once at (x:50 y:35). Effects || 3D Effects || Inner Bevel Settings: Bevel = 2, Width = 2, Smoothness = 10, Depth = 5, Ambience = -4, Shininess = 52, Color = White, Angle = 315, Intensity = 25, and Elevation = 50. Click Ok.

Add a New Raster Layer. Change Foreground to #12256A and click once (Paint Brush should still be selected) at (x:45 y:40) then apply the same Inner Bevel as before.

Add a New Raster Layer. Change Foreground to #800000 and click once at (x:55 y:40) then apply the same Inner Bevel as before.

Layers || Merge || Merge Visible. Edit || Copy

Create a New canvas. (Click File|| New [Ctrl+N])

Width = 350 pixels
Height = 50 pixels
Resolution = 72.00 pixels
Background = Raster
Color Depth = 16 Million Colors (24 Bit)
Color = Transparent Checked

Edit || Paste || Paste as New Layer.

Select the Move tool and click at (x:175 y:25) and holding down the mouse button drag to (x:15 y:25) we have to make room for our duplicate layers and we want to keep the layers in order.

Duplicate and move the new layer to the right 11 times. You should have 12 copies of the circles when you are done. Note: The duplicate will be over the layer you duplicate (which should be the last copy). I moved mine 25 pixels to the right each time and kept y at 25 both when clicking with the move tool and making sure it was 25 before releasing but it really don't make any difference because we will be lining them up later.

Click on the Copy of Raster 2 layer in the layer palette to make it active. Image || Rotate || Free Rotate Settings: Right = Selected, Free = Selected, Amount = 30.00, All Layers = Unchecked, and Rotate single layer around canvas center = Unchecked. (PSP 7: Click Image || Rotate same settings).  Click Ok. Adjust || Sharpness || Unsharp Mask Settings: Radius = 1.50, Strength = 50, and Clipping = 5. Click Ok. (PSP 7: Click Effects || Sharpen || Unsharp Mask same settings).  Note: I like using Unsharp Mask instead of Sharpen.

Click on the Copy (2) of Raster 2 layer in the layer palette to make it active. Rotate it same as above except change the amount to 60.00 then Unsharp Mask. Continue working your way up in the layer palette adding 30 to the amount each time until all 11 copies have been rotated. Don't forget to apply the Unsharp Mask each time. (For those who don't want to do the math the Amount of Rotation in order is 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 210, 240, 270, 300, and 330.)

Now lets line them all up. Turn on Grid (View || Grid [Ctrl+Alt+G]) and Snap to Grid (View || Snap to Grad [Ctrl+Shift+G]). Click View || Change Grid, Guide, and Snap Properties. In the Current Image Settings section Horizontal and Vertical = 25, Units = Pixels, Color = Your Choice, and Snap Influence = 50. (PSP 7: Horizontal and Vertical = 25, Units = Pixels, Line Color = Your Choice, Snap = Center Snap Influence = 50 and Snap to Grid = Checked).  Click Ok.

The move tool should still be selected. We are going to start on the circles to the far right and work our way left. Click on the far right circle and drag to your right with the snap influence we entered it will snap where the circles line up where the grid lines cross each other instead of inside one of the squares. Click on the next set of circles and drag it to the right. Continue until all the circles are centered where the grid lines cross. Turn off the Grid (Ctrl+Alt+G).

Select the Selections tool. Click Merged Opaque in Tool Options. Selections || Modify || Expand 5. Image || Crop to Selection (Shift+R). Layers || Merge || Merge Visible (can't export to picture tube if there is more then 1 layer).  (PSP 7: Click Layers || Merge || Merge Visible.  Selections || Select All (Ctrl+A), Selections || Float (Ctrl+F), Selections || Defloat (Ctrl+Shift+F), and Click Selections || Modify || Expand = 5. Image || Crop to Selection).

Click File || Export || Picture Tube Settings: Cells Across = 12 (there are 12 sets of circles), Placement Mode = Continuous, Step Size = 1, Selection Mode = Incremental (we want PSP to keep the circles in the same order we placed them), and Type in the name of your choice. Click Ok.

Create a New canvas. (Click File|| New [Ctrl+N])

Width = 300 pixels
Height = 300 pixels
Resolution = 72.00 pixels
Background = Raster
Color Depth = 16 Million Colors (24 Bit)
Color = Transparent Checked

Select the Picture Tube tool and select the tube you just exported in Tool options. Click in the New canvas and hold down the left mouse button drag. Change the Scale to 50 and drag out another rope. This should give you an idea what the Continuous setting we choose does. Now change the step size to 3 and drag out another rope. Change the step size to 5 and drag out another rope. This should give you and idea what the step setting is for.  Change the Step back to 1 and draw out your initials.

That's it I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  Note:  This tutorial was written as a challenge tutorial for those taking my PSP 8 Intermediate Class so I apologize if something is unclear.